Braid



Feb. 18, 1936. w. s. TITCOMB BRAID Filed Dec. 1, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l //v VE/V m/FL Feb. 18, 1936. w. s. TITCOMB BRAID Filed Dec.

1, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 18, 1936 Shoe Lace Company, Boston,

tion of Maine Mass, a corpora- Application December 1, 1933, Serial No. 700,408

4 Claims.

This invention relates to braid and is exemplifiedherein with reference to a shoe lace.

Some purposes for which various kinds of laces aremade favor the use of those having a lustrous 5 appearance and heretofore such an appearance in laces has been obtained by braiding them of lustrous threads. While such laces have the de sired brilliancy, they have a tendency to become untied while in use and hence cause inconvenience. to the wearer of the article in which they are used.

The annoyance caused by this tendency in respect to shoe laces is universally known and is especially pronounced in respect to those laces which are made of such lustrous threads as rayon or silk. Moreover, the problem of making a practical shoe lace which will not become untied while in normal use has long been recognized in this art and various attempts to solve it have been 20 made such, for example, as weaving a lace so as to give it a grosgrain structure in which warp threads run lengthwise of the braid, and woof or filling threads extend crosswise of it as in an ordinary woven fabric. It hasbeen found, however, that the Very desirable property of stretching a limited amount, which braided laces possess to a satisfactory extent, is practically lacking in woven laces; and accordingly, prior to my invention no practical solution for the above problem has been provided.

In view of the foregoing it is an object of the invention to provide a braided lace having the requisite resiliency and the attractiveness and brilliancy which characterize laces made only of lustrous threads such as rayon or silk but which will not of itself become untied when in normal use.

To these ends, my invention provides a braided shoe lace composed of two sets of fibrous threads, one set of which includes relatively dull and rough threads, such as cotton threads, and the other set being composed only of relatively lustrous or brilliant threads, such as rayon or silk threads, the latter of which impart the desired 45 stylish appearance to the lace while, owing to the anti-slipping tendencies of the dull or rough threads, the lace, once tightly tied, will so remain until untied by the user.

In one exemplary lace, which possesses the above-mentioned requisite properties to a satisfactory extent, each of its two sets of threads comprises both dull, rough threads and smooth, lustrous threads, successive dull rough threads being separated by smooth, lustrous threads.

The illustrative laces are so braided that every exposed thread segment passes over either one or two others, as in the case of the conventional tubular braided laces which are identified by the terms basket weave or regular respectively. While the illustrative laces arenot grosgrain or longitudinally ridged structurally, they nevertheless are characterized by transverse or longitudinal dull and lustrous stripes which occur in alternation and which result from the fact that exposed segments of like threads in the respective sets lie contiguously or in overlapping relation to each other either crosswise or lengthwise of the braid, as the case may be. As in the case of a preferable type of lace braided in accordance with the invention, the above-described characteristics are most pronounced in a lace successive threads in each set of which are dull or rough and lustrous respectively. Such a braided lace can be made by the use of a conventional braiding machine having two endless, serpentine tracks, the thread carriers in each track being provided alternately with dull and lustrous threads such as cotton andrayon or silk respectively. However, the inven tion also comprehends lace braids in which the apportionment of dull, rough threads and lustrous threads may differ from any of those specifically mentioned above. For example, braids, all of. the threads of one set of which are alike while dull and rough threads alternate with lus- 30 trous threads in the other set, and certain other braids including dull, rough threads and lustrous threads in each set in unequal proportions, have the desired properties as to brilliance and.

resistance to untying. 35.

These and other features of the invention are described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 illustrates an end portion of a tipped lace 40 made from material braided in accordance with the invention, one end being enlarged or magnilied to show the braid structure;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a part of a braiding machine illustrating the relation of 5.

threads in the machine in which the braid shown in Fig. 1 was made; 7

Fig. 3 is an enlarged or magnified view of another braid structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relation of threads in a machine in which the braid shown in Fig. 3 was made;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged or magnified view of still another braid structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the relation of threads in a machine in which the braid shown in Fig. 5 was made;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged or magnified view of a braid structure of the ,basket type also contemplated by the invention; and

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relation of threads in a machine in which the braid shown in Fig. '7 was made.

Each of the illustrative braided laces characteristically comprises two sets of threads, the threads in each set extending at an angle to those of the other and the individual threads of each set crossing first over and then under either one or two consecutive threads of the other set, after a manner well known to those skilled in the braiding art.

With reference to Figs. 2, 4, 6, and 8, a lace braid having a structure as described above can be made in a braiding machine the characteristic features of which include two endless, serpentine tracks I and i2, herein indicated by dash and dot-and-dash lines respectively, and two sets of carriers one set of which moves inthe track !0 and the other set of which moves in the track l2 but in the opposite direction to the movement of the carriers in track Ill. The various threads drawn from spools on the carriers are led through a perforation in a braiding member (not shown) and are drawn therethrough at a certain rate related to that of the movement of the carriers, as will be understood by any one skilled in this art. It will be noted that in some of the illustrative braids two strands are braided together as one, and hence it is to be recognized that they may be referred to herein collectively as well as individually as a thread.

With reference now to Figs. 1 and 2, the braid l3, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is a product of a machine of the type disclosed above, every other thread carrier of which in both sets has a spool of dull, rough thread d such as cotton, the remaining carriers being supplied with spools of lustrous threads Z, such as rayon or silk, as indicated in Fig. 2. In the lace braid illustrated in Fig. 1, each lustrous thread is composed of two untwisted strands which are braided together as one, but it is to be recognized that the character and conformation of the individual threads, apart from their dull, rough or lustrous nature, may be varied as desired.

Accordingly, to make a braid l3 of the type illustrated in Fig. 1 it is necessary, in preparing the machine for operation, to supply the carriers both in set I4, which travel in the track Ill, and in the set l6, which travel in the track I2, alternately with spools of dull, rough thread d and spools of lustrous thread Z, as indicated in Fig. 2, the relation between the carriers of one set and those of the other being such as to avoid collisions of the carriers at the intersections of the two serpentine tracks I0 and 12.

It is apparent that the braid illustrated in Fig. 1 exhibits a definitely striped appearance resulting from the alternating, transversely extending rows of dull, rough and lustrous threads notwithstanding the fact that, as above pointed out, the actual braid structure is not grosgrain. The brilliancy of the lustrous stripes gives substantially the effect of an all-lustrous-thread braid, while, as a result of the roughness of the area of the dull stripes or the body which the rough threads contribute to the braid or both of these factors, laces made of such braid offer the requisite resistance to untying when knotted to prevent accidental or unintended untying.

The same properties are possessed in other proportions by the braids illustrated in Figs. 3, 5, and 7. A braid Q8 of the type illustrated in Fig. 3 is the product of a braiding machine one set 20 of the carriers of which are provided with lustrous threads L while the carriers of the other set 22 are loaded alternately with dull, rough threads d and lustrous threads 1, as indicated in Fig. 4. In this braid as illustrated the individual lustrous threads L in set 20 are each substantially the same size as those of both the lustrous and dull threads, I and {1 respectively, drawn from each carrier in set 22. Of course, there will be a preponderance of those threads which are employed exclusively in one set of carriers in a braid of the type now being described, and accordingly brilliancy or resistance to untying are enhanced in those braids in which lustrous threads or dull, rough threads, respectively, are preponderant.

The above-mentioned object of the invention is I also satisfied by a braid in each set of the threads of which are combined dull, rough threads and lustrous threads in unequal proportions. Fig. represents an exemplary braid 24 of this type. This braid 24 is the product of a machine as described above, each set of carriers 25 and 28, which travel in the tracks l6 and I2 respectively, comprising two spools of lustrous thread Z for every one of the dull thread d and the carriers being so arranged, as illustrated in Fig. 6, that individual spools of the dull, rough thread (2 are separated by two spools of the lustrous thread Z.

A braid 39 having the so-called basket weave (Fig. 7) can also be made in accordance with the present invention. This braid can be made in a machine of the same type as that referred to above from which every other carrier in each set has been removed. In a braid of this type, each thread in each set passes first over and then under one thread of the other set. The braid 30 is the product of a machine one set of carriers 32 of which are provided only with lustrous threads I, the carriers of the other set 34 being provided alternately with lustrous threads Z and dull threads d, as indicated in Fig. 8.

That braids of other conformations than those specifically disclosed herein may be made by employing dull, rough threads and lustrous threads in different proportions will be apparent to one skilledin this art and having the disclosure of the present specification in view.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A braided shoe lace composed of two sets of fibrous threads, one of said sets of threads including dull, rough threads and the other set including smooth, lustrous threads.

2. A braided shoe lace having two sets of cotton and rayon threads, successive cotton threads in each set being separated by rayon threads.

3. A braided shoe lace having two sets of threads, each set comprising dull, rough threads and smooth, lustrous threads, successive dull, rough threads in each set being separated by smooth, lustrous threads.

4. A braided shoe lace having two sets of threads, one of which sets is composed of rayon threads and the other of which includes cotton threads,

WILLIAM S. 'IITCOMB. 

